From: kfl AT clark DOT net (Keith Lynch)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: SVASYNC (was Re: Overflow error on serial port with bioscom)
Date: 23 Mar 1998 05:17:25 GMT
Organization: Verio Mid-Atlantic
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To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
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In article <6e5uhh$sqh$1 AT news-hrz DOT uni-duisburg DOT de>,
Michael Mauch <michael DOT mauch AT gmx DOT de> wrote:
> bioscom() is crap, because the underlying BIOS routines are crap.
> If you really want to use that function, try the DOS command
> `mode´ ...

> There are several libraries for DJGPP that do interrupt drive serial
> i/o: dzcomm, bcserio and svasync are the ones that I remember.

Thanks.  I've downloaded Samuel Vincent's svasync library, and used
it to build a new terminal program for use with my Unix shell account
from DOS (I don't like mice, Windows, or PPP accounts), since I found
both COMIT and CROSSTALK annoying and unpleasant, and I finally got
fed up with working around their bugs and limitations.

I gave it some additional features, to save time and sanity, such as F
keys programmed to:

* Bring up any URL on the current screen, using lynx.
* Do a whois on any site name or IP address on the current screen
  (for writing complaints about spam).
* Do a traceroute on any site name or IP address on the current screen
  (for writing complaints about spam).
* Do an nslookup on any IP address on the current screen
  (for writing complaints about spam).
* Switch between PC-style 8 bit characters, and DEC-style 8 bit characters
  (with Microsoft-style 8 bit characters tossed in for good measure --
  so now when you wrote `mode´ above, it looks like `mode' instead
  of like `mode| or `mode4 as it used to).
* View rot13 (or rot-n for any n).
* Swap case (for comfortably reading ALL CAPS messages).
* View base64
* View uuencode
* View hexadecimal
* View EBCDIC
* View HTML (for comfortably reading messages posted or e-mailed by
  people who think all the world's a browser).

Also, it doesn't have an annoying modeline.  And it lets me exit to
DOS without hanging up, and without going through several layers of
menus.  It doesn't ask me a bunch of stupid questions when I start up.
And it lets me use the alt key as a meta key in emacs.  I should have
written it years ago.  Many thanks to Samuel Vincent for writing
svasync and making it freely available, and to Michael Mauch for
answering the question I should have asked, rather than the question
(about bioscom) that I actually asked.  And, of course, to DJ Delorie
and everyone else responsible for DJGCC.  It's good to see that not
every decent person has been forced off the net by spammers (yet).

(Posted and mailed.)
--
Keith Lynch, kfl AT clark DOT net
http://www.clark.net/pub/kfl/
I boycott all spammers.